In 1969, local quarterback Chase Andrews is found dead at the bottom of a fire tower from which he had apparently fallen. The muddy bog floods at high tide, destroying any tracks from the killer, and no fingerprints are found in the tower. The shell necklace, which he had been wearing on the evening of his death, is missing from his body. Local woman Kya is charged with first-degree murder and prejudged by the suspicious townspeople. Retired attorney Tom Milton visits Kya and hears her story and decides to represent her.